We created that enemy

[727Sky]

An interesting video about some of the past wars.

[Ninurta]

An interesting video about some of the past wars.

He's not wrong. Sneaky Pete had that place sewed up early on in the war, and there were only 50 of them on the ground at the time - they were mostly just calling in strikes and doing FAC work for the Northern Alliance who were doing all the heavy lifting, kicking ass and taking names all along the way.

Then the conventional generals came roaring in looking for confetti to decorate their chests with, and snatched defeat right out of the jaws of victory just in the nick of time to save that loss from it's ultimate destruction by a roaring victory.

He's also right that Afghanistan was a righteous war. We had no business in Iraq, but we had all the business in the world in Afghanistan... but Baby Bush took his eye off the ball in Afghanistan to concentrate on Iraq. He split his attention by creating two fronts, and the Afghan war suffered for it. The old axiom of "if one is good, two are better" does not really apply to wars. Someone should have told him that and just allowed his daddy's ass-kicking in the Gulf stand instead of going back in to have his ass handed to him yet again.

That's right, I consider the Gulf War to have been a shellacking. We were within 8 hours of owning Baghdad that time around, driving forward towards it with little or no resistance, and Pappy Bush just up and decided to piss on the fire, call in the dogs, and go home. The troops were looking at one another and thinking "Dafuq is he doin'? We got this shit, and he's pullin' out!"

So just as soon as he had a chance, Baby Bush decides it'd be a good thing to go in again and try to redeem his pappy's honor, and took one up the ass himself, too. Meanwhile, he's taking resources away from the war in Afghanistan to fight a war in Iraq that he didn't need to except to salve his own goddamned wounded pride. That is one place I disagree with Jocko - I don't think the Iraq war had anything at all to do with oil, either way. I think it was just an attempt to put  band aid on the Bush Boys' chewed up asses. Pushing the price of oil up was just a side effect that didn't make them mad or anything. Remember - it was Saddam blowing up his own damned wells and cutting production, not us.

Indiscriminately screwing around with folks just because you've got a gun and a big ol' ass kicking vehicle will, after just a short time, tend to alienate the folks you are screwing around with. Special Forces understands that, the conventional generals don't, not even after having the lesson pounded into their heads repeatedly.

So, yeah, he's right - we DID create our own enemies! And as it turns out, we may be the worst of our own enemies that we have created.

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[ABNARTY]

Having lived this, I don't know where to start.

Congress, for the most part, does not fulfill its obligation as representation of the citizens. Period. They don't. The reason they continue to get away with it is because the average American has no clue on how their government is supposed to work. They look at it as professional wrestling with good guys, bad guys, and the spectacle. 

What did we get out of Iraq? I have no idea. All I saw were zillions of dollars make the rounds through the country, not into the country. The lives of the Iraqis I knew changed little. 

The whole thing has made me so bitter and pissed off at my fellow Americans, I can't even talk about it. Covid and Ukraine has just nailed the coffin shut extra tight. They are beyond help. Sorry if I am derailing and ranting.

[Ninurta]

Having lived this, I don't know where to start.

Congress, for the most part, does not fulfill its obligation as representation of the citizens. Period. They don't. The reason they continue to get away with it is because the average American has no clue on how their government is supposed to work. They look at it as professional wrestling with good guys, bad guys, and the spectacle. 

What did we get out of Iraq? I have no idea. All I saw were zillions of dollars make the rounds through the country, not into the country. The lives of the Iraqis I knew changed little. 

The whole thing has made me so bitter and pissed off at my fellow Americans, I can't even talk about it. Covid and Ukraine has just nailed the coffin shut extra tight. They are beyond help. Sorry if I am derailing and ranting.

Nossir, that was your war - you earned the right to rant about it. Carry on.

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